Numbers...

[dougbrowne]

Sorry to bust your bubble @the thread starter, but well... Rosetta Stone sort of sucks for learning japanese unfortunately. If you still wanted it anyway you should have just pirated it, it's not worth the money.. But hey, if you think it really works for you, then go with it but it doesn't have a very good rep on these forums.

[Nagoyankee]

Originally Posted by chryuop

But about counters I have a question too for the native speakers or who knows Japanese.
つ can be considered a counter and works with the 訓読み, but for small numbers. What happens for bigger numbers? I mean, it is ok to say 一つの質問,
but what about 20, 32 or 40? I guess saying 試験には三十二つの質問があります would be considered a mistake. I was taught for small things that don't have a real counter I can use 個, but not sure if it works for abstract nouns too.

つ is not considered to be a counter in the strictest sense of the word. It just "happens" to be the last syllable of numbers 1 thru 9. With "real" counters, you should be able to use it for 0 to infinity.

We don't say 試験には三十二つの質問があります. The largest number you can use つ with is 9. There is no exception to this.
The proper counter for 質問 is 問. Casually, some people use 個 and make themselves sound like 9-year-olds counting candies.

「試験には質問が３２問あります。」 would be the most natural way to say this.

「試験には３２問の質問があります。」 is not totally incorrect but not nearly as natural as the sentence above.

"Number + counter" is usually placed immediately in front of the verb when used in a phrase containing a verb.　

[nenn]

thank you this thread is quite helpful

[jesselt]

I was taught to use ひとつ
ふたつ
みっつ
よっつ
いっつ
むっつ
ななつ
やっつ
ここのつ
とお
for 1-10 small roundish objects such as apples or eggs, not こ

What's that all about?

Also, one of the TAs from Tokyo said that her generation doesn't really commonly use any counters except the general counters and ひき／ぴき／びきfor small animals because "it would be cruel to refer to them as anything else."

Also, I don't agree with the statement that Rosetta Stone sucks for learning Japanese. It might for some people, but most of the reactions on this forum to it are based on using the first chapter. I think it sucks at teaching Kana and Kanji (because it pretty much doesn't teach them at all) but many people can benefit from visual learning techniques and examples. I think it would be best to use it in conjunction with traditional classes.

[SHAD0W]

Originally Posted by jesselt

I was taught to use ひとつ..

Could be called the easy way out, maybe you could use it if you didnt know the counter for something, but its no excuse for not learning them.

Cannot comment on Rosetta Stone because I've never used it, but nothing can replace AJATT.

[Sublymonal]

Originally Posted by SHAD0W

Could be called the easy way out, maybe you could use it if you didnt know the counter for something, but its no excuse for not learning them.

Cannot comment on Rosetta Stone because I've never used it, but nothing can replace AJATT.

What's that? [the AJATT thing]

As far as Rosetta Stone goes, I'm having a wonderful time with it. I was able to get it substantially cheaper than I thought would. My brother bought it for me, and just mailed me back some of my money! [Naturally, it was a check.] Apparently he was able to get a half-off student discount! [He's a university student.] I do think the 400 big ones is a ridiculous price, but it is all I can do. My grades are theoretically good enough for me to take Japanese at the local university, but my class schedule is jam-packed. In fact, I'm going to have to take summer school so I can fit it in my Senior year. So, for now, it's all I've got.

I suppose I could always try to make friends with Miho.... [Her family just moved in from Japan].... but I think that would have to wait until I can form basic sentences.... [Though it's never a bad time to make friends....]

[SHAD0W]

AJATT? google is your friend..

Why do you have to wait make friends with someone? just go for it.

How far are you into Rosetta? What can you "do"? (for lack of better words)

What other language rescources have you used to compare it with?

[kirakira]

Originally Posted by jesselt

I was taught to use ひとつ
ふたつ
みっつ
よっつ
いっつ
むっつ
ななつ
やっつ
ここのつ
とお
for 1-10 small roundish objects such as apples or eggs, not こ

All those small つs are optional (and I don't use them), except いっつ does not look familiar to me. It should be いつつ（五つ）.

[Sublymonal]

Originally Posted by SHAD0W

AJATT? google is your friend..

Why do you have to wait make friends with someone? just go for it.

How far are you into Rosetta? What can you "do"? (for lack of better words)

What other language rescources have you used to compare it with?

I've only completed the first "unit" in "level 1 Japanese". This is where I plan to take a stop so I can learn all the hiragana/katakana.

As for what I can "do"... Not a whole lot. I can ask basic questions [e.g. "what is that?", "who is eating", "is the horse running?"], I can make statements of fact [e.g. "he is wearing a hat on his head"] and statements of... falseness [e.g. "he's not wearing a shirt"]. I can also answer basic questions. I can count to six, know about eight colors, know some basic items and articles of clothing, refer to myself [e.g. "I'm a cop"], and some other baiscs. As if these things were not a clue, the unit is entitled "Language Basics".

Really haven't compared it with much of anything. My eldest brother used to have one of those "Japanese for Dummies" books, which, naturally, was terrible, but that's it. Compared to my learning speed in Latin though, this goes a bit quicker [Latin is HARD].

[dougbrowne]

Originally Posted by Sublymonal

I've only completed the first "unit" in "level 1 Japanese". This is where I plan to take a stop so I can learn all the hiragana/katakana.

As for what I can "do"... Not a whole lot. I can ask basic questions [e.g. "what is that?", "who is eating", "is the horse running?"], I can make statements of fact [e.g. "he is wearing a hat on his head"] and statements of... falseness [e.g. "he's not wearing a shirt"]. I can also answer basic questions. I can count to six, know about eight colors, know some basic items and articles of clothing, refer to myself [e.g. "I'm a cop"], and some other baiscs. As if these things were not a clue, the unit is entitled "Language Basics".

Really haven't compared it with much of anything. My eldest brother used to have one of those "Japanese for Dummies" books, which, naturally, was terrible, but that's it. Compared to my learning speed in Latin though, this goes a bit quicker [Latin is HARD].

Problem is, you would never say most of those things in real life... That and, rosetta stone teaches you the way a foreigner would say things, and most of the stuff on there, I don't believe sounds close to the way a native person would say it. It also teaches you to use anata, boku, watashi and other types of I and You all the time, but in reality, words like I and You are probably the least said in japanese, thats not to say they aren't said, they just aren't used very often because one is usually able to tell who the other person is speaking about through context.

Imo, Rosetta Stone teaches you japanese the wrong way. When I tried it, I completed unit 1 and most of 2. One thing I noticed is that they only used the -te forum of every verb. Which is defiantly not what you would use in every sentence you make (Which is what rosetta stone taught you)

Although, I only went that far and don't know much more about it. I think Rosetta Stone has some kind of satisfaction guarantee, if they do, I would really recommend getting your money back, because there are much better ways to learn japanese available for free online.

To list a few...
-AJATT (As Shad0w suggested)
-Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar (Very good Japanese grammar guide, covers a lot of topics)
-Reviewing The Kanji (Mainly for people with the RTK books, but you don't need them, this can help you memorize the meanings of over 2000 Kanji)
-Anki (The best flash card program, using spaced repitition, which is proved to work, you can use it for anything from Vocabulary to Grammar to Kanji)